Good evening. Welcome to the November 13th meeting of the Planning Commission.
And would you call the roll? Thank you, Chair. Commissioner Moran? Here. Commissioner Caland?
Here. Commissioner Strongman? Here. Commissioner Kwok? Here. Commissioner Klopp? Here. Commissioner
Knighting? Here. Vice Chair Knighting? Here. Chair Anderson? Here. We have a quorum. All are here.
Do we have anything on the consent calendar tonight?
Staff has no suggestions.
Then we can move on to number three, which is public communications.
You have two opportunities to speak tonight.
You can speak on either of the individual hearings that we have scheduled.
If you have anything that you wish to speak on besides those items, something that is
not on the agenda tonight, but it was within our jurisdiction.
This is the time to do that, public communication.
And in either case, if you could fill out a speaker card,
that would be helpful before you do it.
You can do it after you're done.
Yeah, I'm really concerned about affordability
and the cost of living here,
and whether my kids or any kids who grow up here
can afford to keep living here.
I think that we could do a lot more in terms of getting
the cost of living down in this area.
In the last three years, we built about 200 houses
for a city with 70,000 people.
And my son just started kindergarten.
And it's great.
It's public school.
There's a lot of really affluent people
who are there, which is great.
It's great that they want to live in Walnut Creek and live
here.
But it makes me nervous about who's moving out.
if this was a lower income area,
we'd understand that pretty straightforwardly,
that's just gentrification, right?
Like, richer people are moving in
and lower income people are moving out,
including people who work for the city
or people who work for the county,
they just can't afford to live here.
And I'd really encourage you to leave no stone unturned
to try to make housing more affordable, right?
With looking at how many houses you can build on a lot,
looking at the building code,
looking at how long it takes to approve permits,
to try to make that happen.
And the other thing is a lot of times
the reason that people oppose new housing
is because of traffic and parking.
I think there's a lot that we could
do in terms of traffic.
I think there's something like 400 kids that go to my kids'
school, and maybe eight of them ride their bike to school.
But there's no reason we can't.
That's a solvable problem, right?
If you look at Palo Alto, they have this whole website,
where 50% of the kids, 50% ride their bikes to school
walk to school. And it just it just goes up over time and it's because they've
made it like they've actually focused on it right and so they measure it. Like if
you were asked a principal or the superintendent how many kids walk her
back to school they don't know the answer to that question. But we could
start measuring that and we could start optimizing it and we could work with the
PTAs, we could work at the city, we could work at the schools to try to get kids to
actually like ride their bikes to school instead of driving to school and that
might, Jack, be quiet, buddy.
Okay, I did not have the timer on.
Oh, sorry, okay, I'll wrap up pretty quickly.
The other thing is around parking,
yeah, it is an inconvenience if new neighbors move in
and it makes parking harder to find on the street.
We could, we have solutions for this.
We have meters, we have parking passes,
we could issue parking passes
and then let people sell them who live here.
Anyway, thanks very much.
I appreciate your time and best of luck
with the rest of the agenda tonight.
Thank you very much.
Sorry about my kids.
Sorry.
I need to apologize.
Okay.
Anyone else have to wish to speak
on something not on the agenda?
If not, we will continue.
Are there any ex parte communications to disclose?
Only one's going twice.
Well, I think most of us have received multiple emails
the topics on the agenda. So no dialogues based on those. We'll move on to the
first public hearing and that is item 4A, Retro Junkie, and ask for a staff
report. So good evening commissioners my name is Gerardo Victoria I'm an
and assistant planner in the community development department.
The project before you today is a special use permit
and design review application for the eating
and drinking establishment retro junkie located
at 2112 North Main Street.
So just some site context.
This is North Main Street right here,
and this is North California.
Retro junkie is located right here where the star is.
It is located in the city's core area,
surrounded by a mix of uses.
The project calls for approximately 1200 square feet
of new outdoor patio area and one food truck.
The general plan designation is auto sales service
and custom manufacturing.
It is also located in the city's
north downtown specific plan,
and the zoning designation is auto sales service
and custom manufacturing.
Food trucks are permitted
with approval of a special use permit.
So the business plan, the current hours of operation for
Retro Junkie are outlined here Tuesday through Saturday 6 PM to 2 AM.
And Sundays occasionally from 4 PM to 9 PM, those hours are not changing.
The food truck hours of operation will be Tuesday through Saturday 6 PM to 12 AM.
No bar will be located in the new outdoor patio space.
There will be two to three security guards located at all times in the new space,
outlined in the staff report and high definition cameras will be located in the new outdoor
patio space.
So this is the existing space right here, this picture above, and the proposed is what
it's going to look like if permitted.
You see the new outdoor space here with the food truck located there.
So here's the site plan.
This is North Main Street right here.
This is where the food truck is going to be located.
According to the elevation drawing, the new decorative CMU fence will be located here
with an exit door, an exit gate here, and an entrance here located on this side, as
you can see it on the north elevation drawing right there, with new landscaping lining the
exterior of the fence located right here and up to the side.
Right here, right here is the entrance.
That is down here.
So the special use permit findings are the same as the conditional use permit findings
with one additional finding that states that the use is provided, that the use provides
a necessary service to the community.
Staff as proposed finds that the project does provide a valuable community service by expanding
the local dining and entertainment options and also provides adequate parking for retrojunking.
The design review findings are outlined in your staff report, and they are here.
I really don't want to read the whole thing because it's just.
Staff recommends a move to determine the CEQA exemption and approve the special use permit
and design review findings based on the findings outlined in the draft resolution to allow
a food truck and a new outdoor patio space at 2112 North Main Street.
And I'm available for any questions.
The applicant Robert Linum is also here
along with the business owner Enrique Montero.
Any questions staff?
Mr. Strongman.
Well you may be referring me to the applicant
but I'll start out.
Do they currently serve food at this establishment?
I will ask the business owner.
Okay that is next question.
Yes.
There appears to be a entrance in the back
going into the parking lot.
that also have security guard at various times
along with the front?
I will let the business owner have an answer to that.
And my big concern is there seems,
making sure that the pedestrians and the cars
don't interact adversely.
You have one entrance there going into the five stalls
and then the other entrance just going around
to the real parking lot, shall we say.
Yes.
If I was pulling in there,
would probably pull in the first one myself and then realize I'm in the wrong
place and that creates issues with the sidewalk and North Main getting out of
there. What are we doing to resolve those things and also pedestrians along
the driveway going back to the main parking lot? So okay let me enter it this
way. So yes there are going to be let me go back so there is a parking stall here and there's a
sidewalk here as you can see those are all existing and this is going to be accessible parking space
yes you can pull in here and park your vehicle there also along right here that oops let me go
back there is like you stated the alley here the entrance to the rear of the property where there's
42 parking stalls on the site and then they have a shared parking agreement so they are satisfying
the parking requirement. They're also going to, as part of this new outdoor patio space, there is
a new sidewalk that is going to be, you can see here and along here. So this existing sidewalk,
I wish I had a better picture, I'm sorry, yeah, it's like it goes to, it extends past here to the
the Autopia Park business, but I don't believe,
and maybe Robert Leinem can answer this,
I don't believe there's a plan right here
to do a sidewalk along here.
Does that answer your question?
Yes, it does.
Thank you.
So would the expectation be that most people
that are parking in the back,
they come in through the rear entrance?
Yes.
So they wouldn't actually be walking down the alley?
No.
Okay, any other questions?
Mr. Moran, this might be better directed towards the applicant, but I'm curious, if I'm walking
down North Main, can I just pop in and grab some tacos and be on my way?
Or do I have to, is there a tiered system where I have to go into the bar or there's
a cover charge or can I hang out on the patio?
Can I go into the bar and do all three?
Does that make sense?
Yeah, it does.
And I'll let the business owner answer that.
Sure.
Okay.
Well, we'll give the business owner a chance to speak for 10 minutes if you choose to use
it.
Hello.
I'm Enrique Montero, one of the co-owners of RetroJunkie.
I want to say thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be here.
In regards to your question about the food truck, we are going to designate the food
truck.
the food truck for patrons only, and they'll have to have a wristband to be inside and we'll police
it or monitor it rather to make sure we don't have any unwanted guests walking up especially at the
end of the night at midnight. We don't want people pulling over and hanging out the food truck,
so that's just a service we're going to offer our guests so they can stay longer and have food and
you know be safe when they drive home so they're not um you know eating a candy bar or something
you know so that's how we plan to operate the food truck. What was the other question you might have
had? Oh that's right the back door security so we do have a guard um stationed at the back door
and um he makes sure they make sure that everyone walks around to the front that's an exit emergency
exit only. As far as serving food right now your question we have a pop-up once in a while in the
back just to serve food to the guests but it's not all the time but we when we did have our beer
garden before during the pandemic we had a food truck for four years so we're very experienced
operating a food truck already and monitoring regulating the area with the food truck same
same standards will uphold, not allowing any guests to pull up in order unless they're entering the
establishment. So just to follow up, you said the the entrance at the back is just a an emergency
exit? Or 100 percent. Yeah, we don't allow ins and outs. So when people leave our guards instruct
the patrons, are you leaving? Have a nice day. Get home safe. If they are saying no, we're just using
on the phone, we're going to the car.
Okay, if you leave, you have to go back around the front,
get searched again, show your ID.
And that's on a per case basis.
So yeah, that's an emergency action only.
A lot of our patrons, I'd say 90,
probably 80% of them park in the back.
We get a lot of Uber drop-offs
and Lyft drop-offs in the front.
And they don't pull, you know, you'd be surprised.
A lot of them don't pull in the front parking lot.
They just pull over and drop off and get out real quick.
I think they kind of either know or see that it's full.
And so hopefully that'll continue to be the case.
Robert Lyman, Johnson Lyman Architects.
And I just wanted to point out a couple of access points.
There is a sidewalk that connects the back to the front.
So you can walk down the alley safely
if you're parked in the back parking lot.
There are also two accessible parking stalls in the back.
So the back door does serve alternately.
I hope I'm correct here.
It's an accessible entrance for use
by people who need to use the accessible parking stalls.
Oh, ADA?
Yeah.
So it does serve that purpose.
And then one last point to make.
It's not clear in this rendering,
but there is an accessible path of travel
that connects for the front door to the city sidewalk,
which I don't think exists now.
And it runs along the, I think that's the Toyota
building to the south, which is behind the food truck.
There's a path of travel that goes along the building
and then hangs the left, and then
you can see the sidewalk wrap around the new outdoor patio.
And that was really the only place we could make an accessible path of travel.
There's utility poles and utility boxes and a storm drain along that alley, and it just
made it really difficult to get a clean, accessible path of travel.
So that's why the route looks a little circuitous.
A question about the hours. Since the interior is open until 2, but the food truck will close
up at midnight. Correct. I'm sorry. I have that. I'm hard of hearing. All right. Can
you – The interior business is open until 2 a.m. Correct. But the food truck closes
at midnight. Correct. And the outdoor patio as well? One o'clock. We stopped letting
patrons in at one o'clock, so that's when we planned to do a sweep and push everyone
inside when we stop letting patrons in, and then we allow, we do last call at 110, and
then we stop serving drinks at 120, and we stop the music at 130, and then we allow patrons
at 145. We allow patrons once the music stops to use the restroom, find their friends, finish
their drinks, and then at that point our security guards go around and tell people five minutes
start making the way to be able to get home safe and our number one priority is
to make sure all our guests get home safe. Commissioner Kwok. All right thank you for
the presentation and the explanations it was very helpful to understand. I did
want to make sure I was understanding the business plan properly so the the
food truck is not a permanent establishment on the property it's a
separate business that comes and goes with the ours. I'm sorry I'm really bad
that hard of hearing.
And I really am because I've been in the nightclub business,
the nightlife business my whole life.
Can you repeat that question a little louder, please?
Yes, so the food truck that's going to be
on the parking lot, it's not going to be there
all the time when the food truck is,
when it's not Tuesday through Saturday,
6 p.m. through 12 a.m., the food truck is somewhere else.
Is the food truck going to be somewhere else?
Yes, I mean, the food truck won't be on the parking lot
when it's not operating.
Yes, no, not at all.
No, the food truck, it will not be on the premises,
it'll only be there from 6 to 12 p.m.
And at 12 p.m. they'll ship up and pack out.
Gotcha.
And then the other question I had was regarding the,
there's a shared parking agreement
with the neighboring business.
And that parking agreement goes from until June 3rd, 2027.
But the special use permit that we're looking at
goes until November 13th, 2027.
So there is a staggered time frame
of about four to five months.
So is this shared parking agreement new
or is it an existing one that's likely to renew?
That's a great question.
We actually, we put this parking agreement together,
I believe a year ago.
We can amend it, we can do whatever we need to do
to go ahead and make it fit for the timeframe.
Okay, all right, those are my questions.
Thank you.
Are there any members of the public
who would like to speak on this item?
Have a speaker slip, you can hand it.
Yeah, hi, Jan Morin live in the Woodlands
and I came down for the second one,
but since I'm here, I'll give you this in a second.
I'm just curious, it seems like,
because I'm not familiar with the location
or with the business,
seems like it's been just a bar, if you will,
only drinks and no food, and they're bringing in the truck
for food, is that the understanding?
Okay, because it still seems to me like you're,
my concern is over usage of alcohol in our city.
And so, okay, that answers my question, thanks.
Good evening, Kathy Hemingway, I'm the executive director
with the Walnut Creek Downtown Association.
And I have a little statement just to share
on behalf of the association,
we'd like to express our support
for Retro Junkie's application
for an outdoor dining area and onsite food truck.
Although Retro Junkie is just outside of our boundary,
we've worked very closely with their team
as they have been active participants
in the hospitality alliance,
which consists of downtown and most city bars
and restaurant operators, as well as an associate member.
So our association has worked closely
with the economic development department
in establishing the current outdoor dining program
and transforming the retro junkie space
into an attractive, well-designed social environment.
Really aligns perfectly with the goals of that program
and the North Downtown specific plan
to encourage outdoor gathering
and pedestrian-friendly designs and improved site frontage, which is badly needed in this
little neck of the woods.
So adding that consistent food option for patrons will enhance the customer experience,
reduce the need for guests to leave the immediate area in search of dining, and support a safer
and more complete evening environment.
So these are meaningful benefits, not only for a retro junkie and their guests, but also
for the neighboring businesses as well.
So that outdoor activation has become a critical economic lifeline for many of our businesses,
and this project gives an established local venue the flexibility needed to remain resilient
and competitive and responsive to changing customer expectations.
So for these reasons, we are supportive of their application, and we thank you for your
consideration.
Okay. Any other speakers on this item? I guess I'll close the public hearing and bring it
back to the commission. Vice Chair Nieding. I think this might be more of a question for
staff. The one thing, the rendering is beautiful, by the way. I don't know who did it. I just
to say that. But the one thing that I wanted to ask about, because I did see on
the site plan the accessible path, that was the first thing that I noticed,
because when you're interacting cars and pedestrians, with regards to the
photometrics, were there only photometrics done for the one streetlight
that's in the street and nothing on-site? And the only reason why I
ask is because if there's going to be a car that's parked the food truck it's
right in front of the accessible path and so and it's next to a tall building
and so I was just wondering if there was any thought I did notice that it said
that the landscaper was going to have lights to try to provide safety maybe
Maybe it's not for staff.
Maybe it's for the, can I ask them?
Trying to answer your question.
Yes, the photometric study was done for the existing streetlight in the front.
But nothing for on-site, with, and so I guess my question is, is with this new accessible
path, particularly since we were discussing the proximity between the cars and the pedestrians
going to and from the back, is there lighting to provide safe travel from
the right of way through up and over? I'm seeing the little foot candles for
the street but nothing on site so that's what I had to. Yeah, Robert Lyman again.
Yeah, the photometric study was done to satisfy the city engineers requirement
to look at the street light levels and there was no requirement for us to do it
on site, so that's why it's only for the city street.
But it's a good question.
The concept of the outdoor areas is
to have it well lit with string lights and maybe
some landscape lighting as the rendering tries to show.
By the way, that was Robert Becker who did the rendering.
He's been on the design review board forever, or he was.
Great renderer.
Anyway, it's a great question about the path travel.
Do you see how the wall is tall
and then it would be blocked by the food truck?
You just want to make sure that you have,
I can't, normally the foot candles have an expression
beyond, it doesn't just cut off like that.
Right, so it's unclear, I'm sorry to interrupt you.
It's unclear because of the photometric plan
did not go on site.
All I can say is we'll make sure
that we have adequate lighting
for the entire path of travel.
So it isn't unsafe.
That's all I can offer.
I couldn't give you foot candles right now.
I know.
But it's a great question.
It's a good point.
Thank you for that.
I'd entertain a motion if someone has one.
Yeah.
All right, so I move that we approve the resolution
for the Retro Junkie food truck
and new outdoor space special use permit
and design review application number Y24-027
at 2112 North Main Street.
Second.
We have a motion and a second.
Any further discussion?
Motion.
Mr. Strongman.
In light of the lights,
do we need to include that in part of the recommendation
that there is adequate lighting on that path?
If you all agree,
I think it would be, it's such an easy thing to look at.
How does that get, is that in the reso?
Does that get added to the reso, Claire?
That can be added to a condition for the project,
but am I looking to, is there a good place for that?
Yes.
It's just to provide safe writing along the identified path
travel on sheet because they labeled it quite beautifully. SW1 is where they
show that path to travel. Jeff, right? Can I suggest some language? The one
question not of the head would be good. Is there an SDP for this? No SDP. So the
The applicant shall revise the site plan as adopted by the planning commission to include
adequate lighting along the ADA path of travel from the front to the rear.
Did that capture it?
Okay.
Okay.
And I just, if the chair can ask the applicant that they agree with that.
Can you come up to the podium and say it on the record?
Thank you.
Travel goes from the sidewalk.
It goes all the way around the entire building.
I will be helping him build out.
I will make sure there's lighting going out onto the wall,
which will get permission from the neighbor to do so.
And all the way around the path of travel
from the rear exit to the front,
it will be lit correctly and a lot.
So plenty of candlelight for you.
Excellent.
Okay, I understand what you guys are saying
and we didn't notice, but it will be done.
Thank you.
so that can be out of planning condition number 10 correct and then make her
motion the second agree yes yes all right I think we're ready to vote okay
to call the roll Commissioner quack yes mr. Klopp yes mr. Moran yes mr.
count yes mr. strongman yes vice chair nighting yes chair Anderson yes motion
Carries. Thank you very much gentlemen. We move on to following project 4B that's
the Sierra Garden multi-family residential affordable apartments. Good
evening commissioners Simmergill senior planner with the city we are here tonight
to consider the design review for Sierra Garden affordable multi-family
development that will be located at 150 Sierra Drive. The applicant, Jonathan
Astman, and his team are here tonight to answer any questions that you may have
after the presentation. And just to quickly orient you, the site is 1.4
acres and does consist of a 29-unit development, housing development, and the
site is zoned plan development, however it follows the multi-family development
standards. And the site is also identified in the housing inventory table as a site that
encourages or envisions more housing. And the project request before you tonight is
to demolish the 29-unit structures to build the new six-story 87-unit housing development.
It does consist of a mix of studios, one, two, and three bedroom units, new landscaping,
58 surface parking stalls.
The project also is requesting tree removal and drift line encroachment permits, and it
is also utilizing state density bonus law, which under that, the applicant is requesting
four waivers to the city's development standards, as well as two concessions, which will go
into more detail further in the presentation.
And just to give you a little background, this project did go before the Design Review
Commission earlier this year.
The DRC did review the project, as well as made a recommendation to move the project
to Planning Commission with several design-related comments that are listed on this slide.
And the plans were revised to address these DRC comments specifically related to building
colors, materials, screening, and landscaping. However, no changes were made
to the parking layout. A shadow study has been provided and I believe that's
included as attachment nine of your packet tonight. The applicant also has a
presentation and he will go into more detail on the shadow study. So tonight
the Planning Commission is considering the design review, the tree removal and
drift line encroachment permits, as well as the density bonus waivers. As mentioned
earlier, this project is being processed under the SB 330 Housing Accountability Act, which
essentially means that if the project meets the city's objective standards, as well as
the city's design standards, the project cannot be denied. And this project does qualify to
be processed under SB 330 as is a residential project with it's a hundred
percent affordable housing project. And to go into a little more detail on the
density, the lot is 1.4 acres and under the multifamily very high general plan
density range they are allowed to build up to 70 units which is the base density.
Utilizing State Density Bonus Law, because of providing affordable units, then gets them
an increase of 80% in density, which then is 76 bonus units in addition to the 70 base.
The applicant could essentially build up to 146 units under Density Bonus Law.
However, the applicant is only building 17 of those bonus units,
which then results in a 87 unit development
requesting four waivers and two concessions.
And here is just a list
which was also of the concessions
and waivers requested tonight.
This is also included in the staff report in more detail.
And again, the applicant is presenting tonight,
so he will go into each of these line by line.
But an example is a parking,
the city requirement is 96 dollars,
the applicant is proposing 58,
which is a concession request under density bonus.
Here is a look at the existing site plan on the top
and the proposed layout, which is the bottom image.
And the vehicle access is provided
from the existing drive aisle from Sierra,
and a central walkway will connect various parts
of the development,
providing pedestrian access throughout the site.
And on-site amenities will include a private outdoor space
located towards the rear of the site. Again I'll go into more detail when we
get to the landscaping plan to show that area. The there is an existing pool at
the rear which will remain and the proposed building is set back
approximately 41 feet where 15 feet is required along the frontage and 15 feet
is required in the rear. I did want to point out that the development is
surrounded by multi-family uses to the north, south, and west,
which is across the street, but, however, to the east,
which is the rear of the site, there are single-family homes.
And the developer has proposed to build the building 121 feet
away from the closest single-family home.
And here is the ground floor plan.
As you see here, there's a lobby that then takes you
to the stairs or the elevator to go to the upper floors,
as well as the ground floor units.
The amenities are highlighted in the blue area.
There's a bike room, as well as the mail drop or mail room
area, as well as the community space that
does open up to the patio or the pool area in the back
with all the amenities.
And the orange, everything highlighted orange
is basically the waste collection or maintenance
or utility areas.
And so the material palette consists
of horizontal and vertical fiber cement panels,
and as well as fiber cement board and batten panels
and perforated metal screens, as well as window glazing.
And the architectural vision for the project
does use natural inspiration, such as tower elements
at key corners to fill like clusters of trees.
And there is the material board with the actual material
samples.
And the next few slides, I'll probably quickly
run through them because the design architect is here
and they could go into more detail.
So here is the south elevation, which
is the primary entrance for the building.
And these renderings, thank you.
So these renderings here really just show
where the front entrance is
and also the visibility from the street.
I have identified with the star just to show
that it's still partially visible from Sierra Drive.
There's a mix of material and colors
that are carried along all elevations.
Per DRC comment, the fiber cement siding initially
was all white. So to break up a lot of that white facade, they've incorporated a darker
color. I'll let the applicant confirm which color that they've decided on. As you know,
we just received a material board tonight that's presented before you. And here's the
north elevation, which is essentially access the rear of this building. And again, fiber
cement siding was changed to be a darker color based on DRC suggestion. The west
elevation, this is the street facing elevation which features that rounded
corner element. Here you can also see that landscape setback which
really provides that area or transition between the sidewalk and the new
building. And this is the east elevation, this is the back of the site again which
opens up to the the community room which opens up to the outdoor space. It
connects to the garden and the pool and other amenities. As mentioned earlier, as
part of this project, there are also trees that are being removed. There are
17 on-site trees. Of these the city's consulting arborist was able to support
the removal of most of those trees due to the health and species. However, there
There were four trees which are identified with the red circle, which are inferior to
good health.
So they would require planning commission consideration to remove.
And the trees that are identified with the green star are all of the off-site or neighboring
trees, which the project will preserve as part of, have protective fencing during construction
to preserve these trees.
And I also wanted to point out tree number 393, I believe, is also on the neighboring
property.
And that tree is also being preserved, but it wasn't really clear in the arborist reports.
I wanted to highlight that.
And moving on to the landscape plan, there will be a mix of five-gallon shrub, grasses
and vines, as well as 47 new trees that will be planted.
And per DRC's suggestion, the applicant has incorporated, I believe, four or five additional
trees from when DRC last saw this project to provide further screening in the back,
as well as a larger tree in the front to really, because there will be the bench and a larger
tree which is just to activate that frontage.
And the design does retain and enhance the existing pool.
The key improvements include the permeable paving, the garden planters, the play areas,
as well as the benches, and the landscape does the open spaces.
It connects to the garden and is also that entire area or the entire development will
be enclosed by a wood fence along the property lines.
So as part of the city's review, this project was subject to the city's design review standards
and guidelines.
you see to the left is a checklist. Again, it includes part of your agenda packet. That's
just a snippet, but there's an entire list of standards that needs to be complied to,
and this project does comply with all standards, design standards. So this project is also
subject to review under CEQA, and pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act,
It does qualify as an infill development project and meets the requirements for the categorical
exemption as the project is consistent with the multifamily general plan land use as well
as the plan development zoning.
The project site is less than five acres, so it meets that criteria.
The project site has no value as habitat, and it's been a site that's been developed
for years.
The project does not generate any significant effects related to traffic noise or air quality,
and this project has been reviewed by the city's traffic engineer, and the engineer
has confirmed that the VMT screens out as it's an affordable housing project that's
located in an infill location and consistent with the general plan and
housing element which does encourage higher or more density near transit and
the noise levels will be within the city's acceptable noise range for
residential uses and the construction emissions are anticipated to be minor
and will comply with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District screening
thresholds as well as it will go through the building permit phase where there
will be inspections and careful review of construction hours and construction
process. The project site is also currently served by existing utilities
and for infrastructure and for these reasons it does qualify for that
exemption. So tonight staff does recommend that the Planning Commission
adopt the draft resolution to approve the design review,
the density bonus, as well as the tree removal
and drip line encroachment permit.
And for the record, I wanted to mention
that there was a minor typo or error
on page one of attachment one,
which is the draft resolution.
So it's in the background section, so it's not a condition.
So there was a typo, which we will have corrected
after prior to the adoption of the decision you make tonight.
And I believe I should also mention
that we received 18 public comments
of which 17 were in support
and the one written comment we received was in opposition.
Okay, thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Questions?
Commissioner Strongman.
I'll take on first.
Could you give me the square footage
of each of the floor plans?
You know, three bedroom, two bedroom and the like.
It's in the plans, but I didn't have it in my presentation,
but it's detailed and I believe the applicant's
presentation is gonna touch on that.
And what is the income range for being a resident here?
Great question.
Again, applicants will cover this, yeah.
And third question is will this remain,
how long will this remain in the affordable housing stock?
this is gonna be 20 years, 40 years or?
Oh, it's the 55 year.
55 years.
That's the condition of approval as well.
Okay.
And since we're reducing the number of parking spaces,
how are they gonna be divvied up between the units?
I'll let the applicant cover that as well.
I'll pass then, thank you very much.
Mm-hmm.
My questions.
Vice Chair, meeting.
I see in the Sierra Garden relocation FAQs.
It's interesting because it says,
will it provide relocation assistance?
Who wrote this?
So that is provided by the applicant,
but the city also has a relocation assistant.
It's in our municipal code.
So it's a requirement that
the applicant will have to abide to.
Okay, and it, this meets the criteria
because the Housing Crisis Act,
which modified the Housing Accountability Act,
pursuant to SB 330, states what's required
for relocation, and so I just think it's interesting
that they automatically state between one to $2,000,
because it's really depending on income.
For the past five years, that's the way,
That's the way the law is written.
I can ask the applicant when they come up also, which
I'm sure they already know, because they filed under the HCA.
I read it that way at first, too.
But then when I reread it, I read that as that's
the moving assistance.
Moving assistance, correct.
And then the financial assistance is a different number.
That's the difference between the current rent and a current rent.
Yeah, and our municipal code does state.
I think I have it right here.
I'll just read it straight out of there.
Do you want to pass this as well?
But does the municipal, it matches what the HCA requires?
It does because it talks about the monthly rent.
It's just interesting because I didn't
think that you could qualify the moving assistance
to a certain vessel.
I mean, I know that you need to provide the financial either.
I think it's like X amount of months of rent.
That's what I'm curious.
It says the sum payable and cash equal to four times
the current monthly rent of the property being vacant.
Oh, in this?
That's in the municipal vote.
Got it, OK.
And it will need to comply to all requirements.
Got it, OK.
I didn't read that in the relocation.
Sorry.
And maybe I misunderstood me.
I was like, oh my gosh, just $1,000.
And that's actually just for moving and for moving.
I know there is.
We're just moving right from right to right.
Yeah, OK.
well that's great thank you so if anything what the applicants presented
tonight is exceeding what our municipal code requires yeah those lines since we
seem to have state law or municipal code and what they're offering which one
controls I like Claire the municipal code implements the state statute so it's
OK.
Any other questions?
The concessions and the waivers, those are the ones that they're requesting.
Is there any actual discretion in that?
I mean, they're requesting them, or are they just telling us the ones that they're going to use?
So, yes.
So they list out the ones that they believe they cannot meet, which a waiver basically
physically precludes feasibility of the development.
So it's waivers to development standards.
city evaluates to make sure none of those standards or even concessions
result in any public health or safety impacts. For an example, is vehicle
emergency access still being provided? Will egress windows be provided other
building code and safety requirements? Are they still, would this conflict with
any of those? And if it doesn't, then the city really cannot deny it without
making substantial findings. The neighbors to the north, those are
multi-family housing as well, and how tall are those buildings? To the north?
Yeah, two stories, three stories. They're two stories, yeah, and that area allows up
to 30-foot height limit.
Okay.
Okay.
That's all.
You have the questions?
No.
Thank you very much.
No problem.
Appreciate your report.
Thank you.
And then we will have the applicant, if they wish, to speak for 10 minutes.
Indicated you have a presentation, so I'm guessing you will do that.
Introduce yourself.
Good evening.
Jonathan Astman, Director of Development with Satellite Affordable Housing Associates.
I'll take a couple minutes to describe SAHA and why this project is needed, and then hand
it off to Pedram Farashbandi, Principal of David Baker Architects, to dive into the design.
SAHA is an established mid-size affordable housing developer, owner, manager based in
Berkeley, and we operate primarily in the East Bay.
We have own and manage five communities in Walnut Creek, so in addition to Sierra Garden,
which is affordable housing currently.
Casa Montego and Montego Place are adjacent senior communities near John Muir Medical.
Aquanae's Court is on Trinity Ave., just east of the freeway, so just west of downtown here,
and the newest one completed in 2015 is Arboleda, which you could see here is about a block
west of North Main Street on Third Avenue.
Why is the project needed?
Two reasons.
The current design is obsolete and the housing crisis.
CR Gardens was built in phases beginning in 1948.
We acquired the property and performed a moderate rehab in 1995.
We take care of it, but it's a relic.
The second reason is coastal California in general and desirable areas like Walnut Creek
in particular are in the midst of a housing affordability crisis.
Yeah, crisis.
And this is a 1.4-acre underutilized site just east of downtown, already owned by SAHA.
So we propose to exactly triple the amount of housing on site from 29 homes to 86, 87
of the managers' unit.
These are future residents' income profiles.
So for example, on the far right, a family of four would be earning roughly $50,000 to
$100,000 a year.
This gives you a sense of rents, which are several hundred dollars, or in some cases
over $1,000 below market.
All right.
Thank you, Jonathan.
Hi.
My name is Pedram Farishbandi.
Principal at David Baker Architects.
We're based in San Francisco.
We've been doing housing for the last 43 years in the Bay Area.
This is our first project in Walnut Creek
that we're very excited about.
We've done over 20,000 homes.
But out of those 20,000 homes, we always
choose to show this photo, not because we designed San Francisco
City Hall, but we designed the two buildings framing the photo.
But what's powerful about this image
is one of them is a high-end condominium building,
And the other one is supportive housing.
And a lot of people cannot tell which one is what.
And that's because we bring the same amount of care
and design philosophy to every project
regardless of the affordability level.
And that's one design for human experience.
Connect to a place that we're designing for.
And essentially, sustainability is a big part
of our practice.
And it's by betting on the future and do more with less.
The overall design is, you know, we talked about the context where it is and how close
we are to downtown.
It's also in the transitioning zone, so we have single family on one side and apartments
on the other side.
The current buildings are scattered around the site, and what's standing out to us is
how permeability is basically non-existent right now on the site.
This is the first sketch we did for the project, and we came up with these organic shapes that
that were informed by the beautiful redwood trees
on site.
And also the access, the two axes of the project
is connected with this fine-tuned custom-made perforated
metal panels.
These are the sustainability features
we're incorporating into the project,
but I also want to highlight a couple things.
One is reducing the footprint of the built building
and giving back more to the land,
and also bringing daylight into our circulation.
So this is the current site plan.
You can see we're proposing a lot of surface parking,
but also all those will have permeable pavers.
As Samir mentioned, we're enhancing the pool
and adding a lot of greenery as well.
This is the project, how you see it from Sierra Gardens.
You can see the bookend and the organic shape,
and then the rest of the volume is articulated
by sunshades facing south.
A little bit about the materials,
we have this random batten siding, which is essentially
hardy panels.
You can see some of the materials
and our current projects.
It brings depth also to the facade.
You can curve the volume because it's segmented.
This is a project we did along Coliseum Bart
and a successful use of perfated panels.
So as you approach the project, a lot of it
is the driveway and the fire access.
But on the side, we have these really nicely planned ramps
that also provide accessibility to the site,
and also the custom perf panels that mark the entry
and also filtered air for this open stair
that we have at the entry.
And as you walk in, the landscape also goes into the lobby,
and then there is a courtyard beyond the lobby.
And it's open air, so you have through ventilation.
And in the back, we have the tote lots and gathering spaces
that are connecting to our community space
on the ground floor.
And if you're from the pool, and you
can see the bookend element repeating itself
in the back as well.
And our landscape architect is not here today,
but we're using a lot of native planting,
opening up the ground and allowing more permeability.
These are different features of the site.
You can see the residence garden,
the existing pool, and the driveway.
As Samuel mentioned, we're back as much as possible
from the back of the property
to allow more trees and more parking.
This is what the maximum density was.
I understand there are state laws to allow that,
but I think as designers, this is also our responsibility
to propose something appropriate for the site
to make sure this laws stays.
You already saw this, but then I want to highlight
what it would have been if we would have
built the maximum density.
These are a couple sections.
Through the site, this is the existing condition.
I want you to pay attention to the red patch line.
This is the current view of the sky.
This is the max density, and this is how far we're
setting back the building.
And then we did have some shadow studies.
I believe you guys have this printed also.
This is the existing condition.
This is in June.
And in September, the existing buildings
start shadowing the neighboring building in the back.
And then December also does in the afternoon.
This is the max density allowed in June.
And then you can see how in December
it would have been really shading.
This is what we're proposing in June.
We're not shading that.
And then in September also, there's
more access to sunlight.
It's early or late afternoon in December
that we start shadowing the building to the Northeast.
So these are all three compared to each other.
and Jonathan will walk us through waivers and concessions.
Thanks, Padram.
Well said.
So we're entitled to request these waivers and concessions
because we're committing to set aside 15% of the homes
for very low affordable households,
but keep in mind we're restricting the other 85
or 83% of units as affordable as well.
So we respectfully request four waivers and two concessions
in accordance with policy H1.5
and the current housing element which has in part,
quote, the city shall advise developers
and how to maximize their use of waivers and concessions.
First is a waiver of the 30 foot height limit
enacted by ballot measure A in 1985.
Page three dash 26 of the current housing element says,
quote, affordable housing developers
are taking full advantage of state density bonus law
to secure the height concessions needed
to optimize the number of units in a project.
This strategy is fully supported by the city.
We request a waiver also to the 25 foot side setback
which is particularly challenging on a long narrow site such as this. We request a waiver to the requirement to provide 200 cubic feet of
storage per unit and
we request a waiver of the requirement to provide a
20 foot by 20 foot light court in front of the primary living room windows and a 10 by 10 light court at the primary bedroom windows.
We request two concessions to make the project economically feasible. The first is to provide 58 parking spaces as Simmer mentioned instead of 96.
Regarding this consider that one more parking leads to more car ownership and therefore more traffic and
Two that lower-income households tend to own fewer cars and there's a page in your packet that provides citations of recent data and studies in California
to demonstrate these two points
but they're well supported by numerous other studies over decades in various parts of the world and
The second concession is not to provide a formal passenger loading loading zone for a couple reasons
The main one being it would result in a loss of four parking spaces
We're running out of time, so I'm just going to run quickly.
I just want to consider how challenging it is.
This is the fire axis diagram.
And in order to build anything there, it's really, really hard.
Yeah, through the chair the applicant
was informed that they could have up to 15 minutes.
It's fine.
Yeah, and I can talk about other things in answering questions.
OK.
Thank you.
Thank you both.
Questions?
Mr. Count.
Thank you so much.
First of all, I just want to say this is gorgeous
and so well planned out.
It's a really exciting opportunity.
Having walked around the site myself,
this looks like a huge improvement
in terms of walkability, in terms of access.
I'm thinking about the residents who live there right now,
and since you own the property,
I would love to hear more from you
what your process is for when this goes into construction, what happens to those
residents and what, you know, because you own other properties in Walnut Creek, do
they have the opportunity to move there? Do they have priority to come back to
move here? Just a little bit more about your plans for taking care of those
residents. Great question. Thank you. So any relocation over 12 months is
considered permanent relocation. Because this building is currently affordable housing,
it's subject to the Uniform Relocation Act, which provides a lot more assistance than
what's required by City Code. So residents will receive the difference between their
current rent and a market rate rent for 3.5 years to 5 years. I can't confirm 5 years
yet depending on individual household eligibility.
So that could easily be six figures.
That's a down payment for a lot of households there.
Sorry, what were the other question?
Oh, yes, we've already met with residents.
We have a relocation consultant on board.
We've met with them.
They're aware.
We'll keep them posted with our timeframe,
which right now is uncertain.
Like we don't have a clear construction start date yet.
It's at least a couple of years off.
And yeah, our relocation consultant will work with them
to find housing, to help them as much or as little
as they want.
Residents who want, who meet the income and eligibility
underwriting guidelines, can get a preference
to move back into the new building when it's completed.
I think that's, did I miss anything?
Do you typically own and manage your properties
once you've built them?
We've done a couple of developments,
where we were a fee developer for a different entity,
general, which is the indefinite long-term owner-manager.
So try to build high-quality, durable materials buildings
built to last.
And given that you have substantially fewer parking
spaces than units planned, what is the transportation
situation in that particular spot?
Are there buses that go by, or do they have to get a different
spot to get transportation?
Yeah, there's public transportation relatively close.
I think it's within a third of a mile.
Well, depending on resident interest,
we can definitely look into setting aside
one or two parking spaces for car share.
That's how you got a bike room, that's handy.
Yeah, and the bike room is larger than required by code.
Other questions?
Commissioner Moran.
I'd like to follow up just with the parking situation
because my math is a little rough certainly,
But if you take the number of, on the low end,
if, say, there's one person in the studio
and there's one person in the one bedroom
and there's, I think I did, two people in a three bedroom,
that's roughly 85 people,
which we're expecting, I would imagine, a lot more.
On the high end, if you have three people
in a three bedroom, two people in a two bedroom,
and all that, my numbers come out
to about 200 people living in the building,
which is fine, with 58 parking spots.
And I'm just curious, what's interesting to me
is it seems like, you know, in the parking information
that you guys provided, it says essentially that
if you build it, they will come or rather they will not,
meaning like people will live there
and forego their cars.
Are we sure about that?
I mean, because that's in the San Francisco area,
Because it seems to me if there's 200 people in the building,
there's 58 parking spots.
That's roughly a quarter of the people
that we'll be able to drive.
And I'm sure that they might say, this is perfect meat
because I want to give up my car.
I think that I just worry that we're
going to be putting a lot more cars on the sidewalk,
because we're not in San Francisco.
We're in the suburbs.
Can you just talk about that, other than the studies
that have shown that if people get into this type of housing,
they may not own a car.
But just if you could elucidate on that,
I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Yeah, well, it's a correlation, right?
So if people don't have a convenient place
to park their car, they tend, in general,
to have less car ownership.
Is that your experience with the other properties
that you own in Walnut Creek?
we did do a parking survey of residents several years ago.
I could look back on data.
Yeah, I don't know exactly the data.
I'm not even sure we have data on all the cars
that residents own in Walnut Creek,
but I could look into that.
I guess just as a follow up,
and I'll tip my hand, I support the project,
but if the numbers say that 38% of the people
that live in low income housing do not own a car,
we're below that right here,
if we're talking about Sierra Gardens.
I don't think there's anything to be done about that,
but I would just like to point out that we,
to Commissioner Strongman's point,
I would love to know what, who gets what, right?
And how it is divvied up in the lottery system.
And I'll let him ask that question,
but I think that's an interesting point to be made.
Yeah, to Councilmember Strongman's question.
First, residents can request a reasonable accommodation.
So if someone, for instance, has a physical impairment
where they need parking close to the entrance,
they could tell our property manager
they readily accommodate reasonable accommodation
requests.
And then for the remaining spaces,
there would be a lottery.
I'm going to quickly go through your question.
So usually, our experience with other projects in general
is a lot of the larger units with three and two bedrooms,
they do get a parking stall usually,
because they're the people who have kids.
And we have less than 58 trees and twos, essentially.
So if you have a three bedroom and two bedroom,
you assign them a parking.
And usually that's how it works in other properties.
I'm not sure how it's gonna.
But is just as fault, is it assigned?
Meaning I have spot 42, right?
It has to be assigned.
Right, yeah.
Well, we have you there, if you would.
This one goes in quickly, the designer view comments.
you've described the change in the color that weren't buried.
Yeah, absolutely.
So maybe I use this image.
So we have some projecting base both facing south and north.
So we change the colors to gray that you
can see on the material board.
And we also change the orientation of the material.
Instead of being horizontal, they're vertical.
So it's both the change in color but also
the orientation of the material.
some of these are not, they're only detailed
in the way they've started.
Some of the elevations need more work.
I think that's what you're just describing here.
You have changes there.
Yeah, so I can go.
Yeah, so you can see it here, the gray base that you see.
You also can see the vertical lines that used to be white
and we changed those four base to gray color.
It also said to use fiber cement that looks more like wood.
Yeah.
What was your response to that?
Yeah, so we, I'm gonna use the example
because it's a material that it's hard to render,
I guess, so I'm gonna use
the very beginning example that we had, so this one.
So we're using a brown material
and our interpretation of wood
is you either have to use wood or not.
And then our experience with affordable housing
is you have to maintain wood in order for it to make good.
We want to make sure the project looks good day one, but also
five years from now.
So using actual wood is not good.
And then if you color it like a wood like,
I think it's cheating.
OK.
And the last one, he was incorporating
screening of rear elevations north and east from neighbors, particularly with the north because
I think the you know even if you had set back you know the required amount instead of the
shorter amount they're quite low and you're quite tall and you're on the south side so they're going
to get a lot of those shadows, excuse me, certainly in December and maybe in September as well.
And plus, you're closer on that one.
So what can you do to help those people deal with that?
Yeah, well, that comment was also towards the east side.
And we increased a lot of larger trees there.
So that one we could address.
Given the site narrowness and the need for a fire lane,
it was really no room to incorporate that.
What we have is, I'm going to go back to the site plan.
maybe on the upper floors, is that we also have,
you know, we have our regular setback,
but we also add a window to the side,
so not directly to the north.
I don't know if I can point with this.
For instance, you know, the bedrooms are further back
from the property line, but the living rooms,
we added this secondary window.
So if they want to block it off, they still have a window
and not looking directly at the neighbor.
So that was the idea here.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Mr. Strong.
Yeah, there was a comment made by the applicant
that it would be a couple of years before you actually
start construction.
And I believe our resolution doesn't last that long
if our secretary could correct that.
I think the resolution suggests two years.
If it if it takes longer than that to get a building permit, then they would have to come back request an extension. Yeah
Yeah, the way affordable housing fund works you have to apply for it and you don't get it you apply next year
That that's why we don't know
question eating
So if the Planning Commission wishes you could
increase
The life of that original resolution. You can consider that in a motion
I had a question about,
I understand that the project screened from VMT,
and there's a lot of discussion regarding parking,
and there's always discussion about traffic.
I know that Walnut Creek has a TDM program that they have,
and so my question is,
I'm taking a look at this memo and obviously there's no VMT,
And LOS is out the door with that Senate bill a few years ago.
It looks like there's some car share program.
But considering that the applicant,
and maybe it's a question for the applicant,
considering that you all have a practice of providing
well-run developments, my question to you
is, were there any other TDM measures that
are being implemented?
Because when I look at the site plan,
I don't even see the EV parking spots noted.
But it says that there is a car share program.
Could you elaborate some of those?
Because there is, I mean, the city of San Jose,
for example, because they're trying
to strive for an incredible amount of affordable housing,
they have a very robust TDM program
that is not tied to CEQA.
So it's something that you do separately.
But at least they have a lot of good programs
like even education of residents to see
what their alternatives are to get out of a car.
And you're so darn close to Broadway Plaza, you know,
enough where you're not deep down Ignacio.
Could you talk about that?
Yeah.
So the building will have six EV parking spaces.
And then I think an additional 17 will be EV ready,
where we could easily add chargers to that.
to your question are we're providing more indoor secure bike parking than is
required there'll be room for at least 92 bikes and e-bikes yeah like I said
we'll evaluate the the car share program if there's an interest we're happy to
for your other developments has it ever worked where I know a TDM measure is
is almost marketing or the ability to,
you can sign residents up for any of the local programs
or bus news or something so that they know,
okay, I have, these are my options for transit
or there's options to also coordinate
with other friendly neighbors
that maybe want to carpool together.
I know that, and it's difficult when you're doing
for sale, affordable, but since this is for rent
and you are gonna be a property manager,
have you ever done that in any of your,
where you're helping connect residents to carpool
and giving them accessibility to all the transit programs
that are available?
We have a number of properties where we obtain
for residents free transit passes.
So happy to look into that.
And the carpool idea is a great idea,
happy to kind of facilitating people to-
The transit passes cost you money,
and that's not what, I don't want to do that.
But it would be interesting to do the things
that take minimal effort, but provide such a big benefit.
And there's so, I mean, the city engineer could describe,
a plethora of TDM measures and the idea is to be able to get residents the
knowledge or connective, hey if so-and-so has a car and you're going to the same
school, owning a car for affordable for folks that can't afford, it's expensive.
Maintenance, insurance, all and so it would be, I personally would love to see
that in some of your developments if you're going to continue developing a
Walnut Creek to be able to provide those measures that don't cost you any more
money, right, but then help provide this benefit that you would normally look at
when you didn't scream out of screen out of VMT. That's a great idea. Thank you. And
those transit passes, there's a grant program that would. Okay. I was like, I'm not trying to charge you more money.
I'm writing a grant. Commissioner Count. Yeah, so related to a few of the prior comments, so I used to live near
this area and walk by quite often. And so I'm thinking about how your current
residents, how the kids get to school from here, are you aware of whether
they're driving or walking, biking? I don't know. I'm happy to check with a
property manager. Okay, I would imagine that at least for elementary and middle
they can walk from there. Yeah and actually depending depending right it
depends if it's if it's Indian Valley Elementary then you're going up then
you're not walking or biking but if you're Walnut Heights I'm not sure yeah
right but that would be good information to know in terms of then they wouldn't
necessarily need the car and even the carpool and the yeah. And then I just
wanted to ask about the open-air lobby that's described on here. How is it open
air if there's floors above it? What does that look like?
Open air on the sides there's opening and then even the fence it's perforated
metal so you have through ventilation and also that on the upper floors there's
is also open, as you can see over here,
where the red arrow is.
It's open.
It's just guardrail.
And then in the back, it's also open.
It really helps with smell, and then also
reduce the track load on these circulations.
So if you're cooking, for instance,
in the next door, the smell doesn't concentrate.
And then also the stair is open air.
That encourage people to use the stair and feels also safer,
especially if you're on the lower floors.
That has been our experience,
that people use the elevator less
when there's a nicer stair in the lobby to use.
Right, nice.
Okay, thank you.
Any other questions?
No, I'll end up with a public hearing.
If you have something to say on this item,
have two minutes to do so.
If you provide a speaker slip,
that would be helpful to us.
Well, my name's Mike Swan.
I live on Edmond Court, which is almost immediately north
of the project that's being proposed, maybe half a block.
My main concern is the parking situation.
I fought tooth and nail about 10 or 15 years ago
to get a permit, sea permit parking on my block.
And they finally granted it to me.
It was great for a while, but then I
don't think they monitor that much.
There's not a real problem now, because we're not
getting as much traffic as we would
beginning with this proposed project, it's okay.
And what I guess I'm having a hard time
is getting my, wrapping my head around the comment
that if we build more spaces that they're gonna do want,
it gives them, what is it?
More spaces would lead to more car ownership.
I'm understanding that that's a 45,
when you guys were saying that 58 spots
or what they're asking for.
The city was requiring 96,
and that's what this concession is gonna be,
is that's a 45% discrepancy.
Does that mean that 45% of the people
that are going to be moving into this place
do not have cars?
I know Mr. Brown brought this up earlier.
That's my main concern is the traffic
and the problem with people parking on my block,
because it happens, it's gonna happen a lot more
if there are no places for people to park
within this facility, because there's no street parking.
As you drive down there right now, drive down Sierra,
and anytime during the middle of the day,
there is no places to park.
So this overflow that's gonna come from these
only 58 spots rather than 96 spots,
there's no place for these people to go.
They're gonna start encroaching.
I don't know if it's, you know,
if I'm gonna have to talk to the Walnut Creek Police Department
to be more proficient in monitoring the street
than they are now.
And then the other concern is with a lot more
of that congestion, that three-way stop sign on Edmond
Court and Sierra, at least five times a week,
people blow through that, and I almost get t-boned.
Again, the police don't monitor that much anymore.
The amount of traffic that's going to be coming through there,
I'm worried also that there's going
be more problems with that intersection so thank you for your time staff is the
do you know how many parking spaces are there currently for the 29 units I don't
have the exact number I think there's currently 29 or 30 okay hi I'm Harrison
from Evan court right in the right eye shot to this development thanks for
taking community input on this project while we're excited to welcome new
neighbors and support affordable housing I think it is also really important that
we work together to minimize the potential challenges
in the neighborhood and kind of limit
the effect of the expansion we'll bring.
So, I wanna focus on some things that we can do.
We know parking is an issue,
it has historically been an issue.
Helping short tenants know that there will almost certainly
not be any street parking and to expect a bike or walk,
or to expect a bike or walk unless there's some kind
of underground or multi-level parking,
which I assume was not feasible.
While we do walk to town a lot, right,
you do still have to do a fair bit of driving.
It's not quite as dense as San Francisco
and you will have to drive to Walnut Heights
to get kids, same thing.
From a city perspective, as Mike said,
strict parking enforcement would be greatly appreciated.
There's, it's already impacted adding more cars,
even if it's a couple more will impact it quite a bit.
And then traffic is quite heavy for an area
with so much foot traffic as well.
If there's anything we can do to add like bus routes,
accessible walking paths,
maybe a stricter flow control of people going through
because there's lots of people who kind of skip downtown
to kind of go through, that'd be really helpful
because with kids we're trying to walk,
we're trying to encourage more walking,
but we're also putting more cars on the road
and people in the area.
It's kind of a, we're trying to find a good balance, right?
And also it'll be the tallest building in the community,
almost kind of double the size
of the next largest building in the area.
It will stick out unless we kind of pull out all the stops
to really try and blend it into nature,
blend it in with everything.
So it's not just the tallest in the area.
Like I'm down the hill a little bit in Edmonds,
so it's gonna be like a large monolith on top of a hill,
which is fine, but anything we can do to help design it,
make it a little blending would be really, really grateful.
So thank you for that.
Welcome back.
Yes, thank you.
Jan Warren is what I came for.
I've been supporting affordable housing for years
in this city, this is a beautiful development,
Asaha has a wonderful reputation,
and they actually do what they say they're gonna do.
I have a few questions regarding how many units
are gonna be for people with disabilities
in terms of showers or kitchens or whatever like that.
Trouble reading my notes.
I was happy to see you have elevators.
I couldn't find it on the draft.
I'm like, my gosh, is it just stairs?
So hopefully, there's two.
I have a comment about wood fences, as all of us
out in the hinterland are working on defensive people
spaces in which wood is not up against our houses.
So I assume it's like between the neighbors
and it's not attached to the building.
The roof appears to be white.
I hope it really is, and it's reflecting.
All the sustainability features on this are wonderful.
The, I have a redbud tree and it's beautiful.
But after it blooms, you get these very brown,
crunchy, bean looking things like mimosas or something.
And it is a bit of a mess.
So you might want to reconsider that.
Let's see here.
We are moving to a micromobility position in this city.
Our city's working very hard to make mobility
for everyone and when you know we're just in the process of this big
transition these folks won't have to sit on Ignacio Valley Road unless they
want to go out to the Interland but the the it's a wonderful location is close
to all the amenities and good schools and I just can't celebrate enough thanks
thank you hi my name is Rachel Lorenz I am a resident of Walnut Creek and I'm
here to voice my support for the CR Drive project. As most of us in this
room know, we need more housing period. And as a renter, this fact is much more
tangible and urgent than I would imagine it is for someone who already owns a
home. So I support turning the existing 29 units into 87 units that is proposed.
Additionally, as somebody who lives within walking distance of downtown and BART, I cannot
overemphasize how nice it is to be able to go shopping, commute to San Francisco, and
go out without needing to drive.
In addition, being able to live in a walkable neighborhood, especially with kids, is something
that should not be out of reach for families.
Walkable cities are what builds community interaction and civic engagement.
is the Walnut Creek that I hope for and imagine for the future. If parking is an issue as
we have heard tonight, I would encourage this commission to think of some creative ideas
for handling that separately on a broader level in Walnut Creek, as well as do some
research to understand how Walnut Creek can accommodate and encourage less car use. Why
Why not do your own surveys on car ownership in Walnut Creek for renters?
Why not promote car share or transit information on a city level instead of relying on private
developers to do so?
Thank you so much.
Anyone else?
We should speak on this.
Perhaps we could have the applicant, you have five minutes to address any of the issues
there have come up, in particular residents
with disabilities, what provisions for that,
what is the fencing that you have around the property,
and what's on the roof, what color is it?
Yes, so for mobility units, these are accessible units,
the building code for this type of population
requires 15% of the units.
However, it has to be equally dispersed among all unit types,
so it always end up being even more to get that.
So I imagine it's somewhere in between 15 to 20
of the units will be fully accessible.
And the.
Can I ask a thing?
So public buildings like this building or a library
are subject to section 11B of the building code
but also affordable housing is.
So it requires, so 15% of the units be,
like Pacham said, fully mobility accessible,
but the remaining units are all easily convertible.
So they'll have things like your kitchen sink cabinet.
You can easily take out a few screws
and pull that out so it could be like a roll on it.
There's all these ways you can easily convert the unit
to make it accessible.
And then SAHA property management,
I mentioned this earlier in regards to parking,
but we readily work with residents
who submit a reasonable accommodation request.
So they might say, I need a door where you press a button.
My front door automatically opens.
Or whatever it is, they'll request what they need.
And then we work with them to accommodate their needs.
I think I noticed that the roof is primarily
covered in solar panels.
So it's not reflective.
But it converts it into electricity
and moves it somewhere else.
So that should work as well.
I think there is a green, California green building
that requires you to use a light surface for your roofing so it's already
embedded in our building code to use a white surface.
How in the fencing, would you anticipate for the fencing around or between that property and others?
Yes, it's wood fencing, new wood fencing.
Separate from along a property liner?
Yeah.
Right.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right, with that we can close the public hearing and bring it back to the
Commission, discussion, Vice Chair Needy.
I do wanna ask, Ryan,
was there any other TDM stuff contemplated
as part of, or was there no transportation analysis done?
Good evening commissioners.
Ryan Cook, senior civil engineer
with the Public Works Department.
I can't speak exactly on behalf of our traffic engineer
who, unfortunately, couldn't be here tonight.
They're another community meeting.
However, as is outlined in the memo
that is an attachment from our traffic engineering
department, there are TDM measures
that were taken into place for the additional bike parking,
the EV car share, and the accessible nature to transit.
Additional measures I can't speak specifically to but I know that there's no requirement since they are sp 330 in order to
Require additional measures
Right. Okay. So this the these this is the TDM
It's the EV car share bike facilities and then the fact that they're close to transit. Yes, that's my understanding. Okay
the one thing that
Thank you. Yeah, I
I did, we should, the civil site plan just doesn't even reflect the EV
car share program, which I'd like to think that it works.
And if it works, and it should be reflected on the plan so that when they process their permits,
they're required to be in substantial conformance with the stamped VTM plans.
That's just a thank you so much, Ryan.
I just wanted to make a comment that this is the first time since we approved the City
Design objective standards that we've seen the checklist used in the presentation about
a project, and it was most helpful to see exactly what standards we were applying and
not applying, and it was quite a trip down memory lane, so thank you for that.
It was very helpful.
I'd like to comment that there have been, really recently, the last few years, more
studies looking at not just how many parking spaces we want or we should have, but how
many are actually used, and one of the findings that surprised me a bit was that for lower
income affordable housing. What they found is that if it has decent
transportation nearby, the car ownership is between 0.6 and 0.7 cars per unit,
which actually fits pretty well with what is proposed here. I have
intimate knowledge of a project that had big fights over the amount of parking and
And in reality, it's not using all the parking that was allocated for the residents, so.
And that was in our city?
On Trinity Avenue.
I would just like to say I'm really appreciative of this project.
I know that SAHA has an excellent reputation for everything that you do, the building and
housing, but also the managing of it.
And so it's very exciting to see this improvement
of a property that Saha already owns
and is thinking about the design and the long term sustainability
of the property as well.
I want to appreciate that a lot of thinking
went into the design about how people will use it.
So rather than filling out the full density
that you're allowed, really thinking through how
people using it, creating that the tote lot playground area for kids to play.
I know walking around the site right now, there's not that much of an area like that
for kids to play and kind of in that whole block there's not really a space like that.
And so adding amenities like that as well as being thoughtful about the ways that people
will congregate in the building and outside to build community is really important and
I think will really change the dynamic of how people interact with each other in that
area.
So I'm very excited about this project and excited to see it move forward.
Commissioner Mora.
I'd like to thank our neighbors that came out to give their thoughts on how this might
impact their own neighborhood,
especially as long-term residents.
Um, I, too, uh,
couple of the points made in that we feel that as a,
and I, I also believe this is that if there is less parking,
there will be less cars,
but it's going to take some time.
Uh, and so I would encourage the city to look at ways that we
can be smart about how we're going to, uh,
I have roughly 200 some odd people moving in
and with about a quarter of the parking spaces.
I think that this is the way that our neighborhoods,
especially close to the downtown
and public transportation need to function.
However, it's going to take a little bit of work
to get to that point.
And if we've got a couple of years before this is completed,
then we should be thoughtful about
rideshare, public transportation, and stuff like this.
Because to your point, there will be,
you drive there now and there's difficult
to find a spot on the street,
let alone if we have 150 more people
who are going to have cars.
Maybe they won't over time,
but it's gonna take a little bit of a grace period
to get to that point.
So I appreciate you coming out
and your views and your opinions have been listened to.
So thank you.
Someone have a motion to make.
I move to adopt the resolution determining the project
to be exempt from CEQA pursuant to a class 32 infill exemption
and approving the design review and tree removal
permits for the proposed 87-unit Sierra Garden project.
Discussion on that.
Motion.
Is there a need for any amendment relative to Commissioner
suggestion about the E.V. parking designation on the site plan so no just
they'll be required a note okay for the motion as stated okay commissioner
count yes mr. quark yes mr. Moran yes mr. strong man yes mr. clap yes
Vice Chair Knighting and Chair Anderson. Yes. That's seven yeses. Motion carries.
Thank you all very much, appreciate it. Alright, we have a few other minor things to finish up.
Commission considerations. Anything we have publicly noticed that we need to
consider? For staff. Let's see, I did have one thing to mention. I do believe that
that Christine sends out the forecasted agenda, correct?
I just want to point out that the Planning Commission
is gonna be probably busier at the end of the year
than they were at the beginning of the year.
So the November 13th and the December, I'm sorry,
that's today, the December 11th and the January,
both January meetings already have items
and into actually end of February.
So that said, let me know if and off in the coming year
weeks if anybody cannot make any of those meetings. I think I'll leave right
after the December meeting and returned right before the January meeting. Not
because the planning Commission just worked out that way, but I'll take credit
for it anyway. Okay, is there any Commission member reports? Yeah, just
quickly report on the Transpac meeting today. So Transpac is grappling with a
a wish to combine a bunch of disparate youth transmit transit programs into one
So that they're not like five different programs that parents and kids get confused by so but it takes
Heavy lifting from all the different jurisdictions. So at this point it appears
CCTV will step up to manage all those programs and provide standard
messaging
information, materials, et cetera to students
from July through November.
So that's an improvement.
And the second thing is that their
CCTV integrated transit plan update is underway
and it does include a priority area
as measured by feedback gathered
of the Ignacio Valley Entry Boulevard.
It doesn't have specific action plans yet
of what will be done there, but those are priority improvement
areas.
Any other announcements, reports?
Anybody?
That's great news.
And maybe it's related to our earlier conversation.
If there are free transit passes for youth year-round
that you don't have to apply for.
That was the question.
It's like, OK, so now we got it to five months,
how can we make it all year?
What would it cost?
Just the youth ride free and you don't
to pass all that. Yes, that would be incredible. And I just wanted to say the city did a really
great job with, as usual, with their Veterans Day ceremony. Thank you. All right, if there's
nothing further, we are adjourned. We'll see you in a month.